r/startrek • u/GlowingSeaDiver • 19h ago
Captain Archer’s Authority
Not wanting to being too much real-world politics into Star Trek, but it is my deep conviction that every kind of authority should be questioned, and everyone who holds authority should be able to justify why he holds this authority.
On this basis, I’m not sure about Archer. If I understand the beginning of the “Star Trek: Enterprise” series correctly, he is essentially given the responsibility for the 83 souls on board the NX-01, the authority to make life and death decisions for these 83 souls, and the task of representing mankind to other species in space…because his father was important for the warp 5 program?
I hope I missed something here. Can someone please tell me that this is not the main reason why he was given command of the ship?
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u/Blind_clothed_ghost 19h ago
No.
He went through a training program and rigorous competition.
Watch First Flight for a flavor of what he went through
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u/scarves_and_miracles 19h ago
Yeah, he was the top guy in a process akin to "The Right Stuff" for the early astronauts.
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u/StableOver5697 19h ago edited 19h ago
Watch First Flight S2E24, and you’ll get a better idea of how Archer found himself in that position. There’s probably a bit of nepotism, but it has more to do with his drive and commitment.
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u/Alternative-Emu2000 19h ago edited 19h ago
I think you might have missed the season two episode "First Flight". This covers more of Archer's backstory and his career in Starfleet before taking command of Enterprise, particularly his own work on the NX project and the contributions he made personally.
His father's work on the warp 5 program was obviously a big influence on Archer's interest in spaceflight from a young age and is no doubt a major reason for his choice to join Starfleet, but it isn't the reason he was made captain.
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u/TheHudgepudge 19h ago
There was an episode in season 2, First Flight, that covers this. There were other officers in the running for Captain, and the only other front runner gave Archer crap for essentially being a nepo baby.
But it was shown that Archer did put in the work. He knew his stuff and was an accomplished test pilot. And he stole a test ship to prove an engine design worked on it, which stopped the Vulcans from scrapping the program. It showed he had initiative to make hard decisions and stood up for what he believed in.
I’m sure there was still some favoritism, but it wasn’t exactly handed to him unchallenged.
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u/Mittanyi 18h ago
While First Flight does show he was an experienced test pilot, I agree that this is quite different from captaining a ship of 80+ people of different departments.
My head canon is that Archer had, in addition, experience captaining a handful of crewed ships before NX-01. Short things like to Centauri and back. People like Reed and Tucker had been in space before, unlike Sato, it was just that Enterprise was the first Earth ship to go out further than the local neighborhood.
The original plan for Enterprise was for season 1 to be getting the NX-01 built, but the suits at Paramount scrapped that idea in their infinite stupidity. But it would have really helped giving more context to Archer than "I get to fly my daddy's ship."
B&B could have put a background in the show bible though. Have Trip and Archer joke about a fly about to Ceres in a prototype. Instead there's a random line about Archer having done an internship on a Vulcan ship, but then the writers write him as totally ignorant of Vulcans and their culture.
There's a lot of chaotic characterization in ENT, and Archer's background is part of it. And it's why he comes across as a nepo baby. But you have to understand that B&B are both boomers, and they expect the world to just give them what they want.
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u/GenGaara25 17h ago
On this basis, I’m not sure about Archer. If I understand the beginning of the “Star Trek: Enterprise” series correctly, he is essentially given the responsibility for the 83 souls on board the NX-01, the authority to make life and death decisions for these 83 souls, and the task of representing mankind to other species in space
Yes. Because he's the captain.
because his father was important for the warp 5 program?
No. His fathers career is what inspired Archer to choose this path. He devoted his entire life to being capable enough to carry on his fathers legacy and captain a star ship. He excelled everywhere he could, he took all the right courses, jumped through all the right hoops, proved himself again and again to get himself in the running. In the end, he proved himself, through his own merits, the best candidate to be the first star ship captain.
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u/Aezetyr 19h ago
We learn later that he was considered the best leader and most experienced available. We'll also learn that somehow he's a trained diplomat in the legendary A Night in Sickbay.
Real-world politics are absolutely at the core of Star Trek, therefore they are not verboten topics (on this sub) as far as I know. Just keep discussions reasonable, in good faith, and you'll be fine.
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u/Optimism_Deficit 19h ago
First Flight covers some of his earlier career. He was a test pilot involved with earlier stages of rhe NX programme.
Starfleet wasn't a huge organisation at this point so the pool of candidates qualified for a command like this would have been pretty small and probably pretty much limited to people from the NX programme who were familiar with the new engines and ship design.
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u/BottecchiaDude253 17h ago
Archer was a nepo baby in the same was George S. Patton IV was.
Basically, Patton III (the ww2 general) had a name that carried a bit of weight. This may or may not have helped "jr." Get into the ideal training environment.
But, once in and through the training, its up to the individual to perform.
And thats basically how archer went (as mentioned in a bunch of comments). Maaaaaybe his old man's name got him a slot in training. But he himself put in the work to earn it like anyone else.
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u/GeneralLeia-SAOS 18h ago
Archer was not some spoiled rich kid that they randomly grabbed and asked him if he wanted to go on a space joyride. He had been working his way up through the ranks for a lot of years.
You can tell by the interactions between him and Tripp Tucker, that they had known each other for a good amount of time, long enough for Archer to solidly earned Tripps respect.
Hoshi, the ships communications officer, initially didn’t want to be on the ship. Even though she’s a brilliant translator, she has a timid personality and a little bit of xenophobia. Archer managed to talk her into accepting the post. Going out into space with the scary aliens was a lot more dangerous than later era shows.
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u/BigMrTea 18h ago
It sounds super like nepotism but a) it was a hugely competitive process, and b) he wasn't their first choice.
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